--- title: Jan Ingenhousz, Father of Photosynthesis, Gets Google Doodle description: Dutch scientist Jan Ingenhousz, who would have turned 287 today, is best known for discovering how plants turn sunlight into energy. canonical: https://time.com/5055533/jan-ingenhousz-google-doodle-photosynthesis-plants/ author: Eli Meixler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-08T04:07:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T23:44:25.000Z og:title: Google Doodle Honors Jan Ingenhousz Father of Photosynthesis og:description: The Dutch scientist unlocked the secret life of plants og:url: https://time.com/5055533/jan-ingenhousz-google-doodle-photosynthesis-plants/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd293ee418bc5d439/6988f449ab6d7785766b0ee4/jan-ingenhouszs-287th-birthday-5733919419793408-2x.png?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: jan-ingenhouszs-287th-birthday-5733919419793408-2x og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Google Doodle Honors Jan Ingenhousz Father of Photosynthesis twitter:description: The Dutch scientist unlocked the secret life of plants twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd293ee418bc5d439/6988f449ab6d7785766b0ee4/jan-ingenhouszs-287th-birthday-5733919419793408-2x.png?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jan Ingenhousz, Father of Photosynthesis, Celebrated With Google Doodle ## Video: How Google Makes its Doodles [Watch (HLS stream): How Google Makes its Doodles](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/upF0qp1E.m3u8) (3:23)  _Published 2018-07-07. Our videographer went to the Googleplex in Mountain View, California to meet some of the designers and coders who create the special, clever variations on the Google.com logo known as_ by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Updated: Dec 12, 2023 11:44 PM UTCPublished: Dec 8, 2017 4:07 AM UTC  Google celebrated Jan Ingenhousz's 287th birthday on Dec. 8, 2017. Google celebrated Jan Ingenhousz's 287th birthday on Dec. 8, 2017.Google Doodle by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Updated: Dec 12, 2023 11:44 PM UTCPublished: Dec 8, 2017 4:07 AM UTC Today’s [Google Doodle](http://time.com/tag/google-doodle/) celebrates another important figure in the history of science: Jan Ingenhousz, the 18th century Dutch chemist who “[sprouted a flowering understanding](https://www.google.com/doodles/jan-ingenhouszs-287th-birthday) of the secret life of plants,” according to Google. Ingenhousz, who would have turned 287 today, was also a physician and a biologist, but his best-known contribution to scientific knowledge is the discovery of photosynthesis: the process by which plants convert light into energy. Ingenhousz began his career as a physician, developing an early interest in innoculation and immunizing hundreds of Londoners against the threat of smallpox. His aptitude caught the attention of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa, who brought Ingenhousz to Vienna to inoculate the entire royal Habsburg line. Ingenhousz didn’t limit himself to the study of medicine, and it was his unraveling the secrets of photosynthesis that ultimately made his fame. While it was already known that plants interact with atmospheric gases, it was Ingenhousz who first noticed that plants produce oxygen when exposed to light — tipping him off to the process of photosynthesis, whereby plants harness light to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugar, which plants use as energy, and oxygen, which fills the air we breathe. Ingenhousz also made contributions to the study of electricity, thermal conduction, and particle motion, which brought him into correspondence with some of the other scientific luminaries of his day, including [Benjamin Franklin](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,2012113,00.html) and Henvy Cavendish. He died England in 1799, but whether you’re bent over a biology textbook or enjoying a sunny day in the park, you can thank Jan Ingenhousz for helping us understand how the plants around us work. 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